May 18 (2007)
"Hwa-ryeo-han-hyoo-ga" (original title)

The story of events leading up to the 1980 Gwangju massacre in South Korea when thousands of students and protesters were killed by armed troops during an anti-government demonstration.

Director:

Ji-hoon Kim

Writer:

Sang-yeon Park

Stars:

Sang-kyung Kim, Yu-won Lee, Sung-kee Ahn

2 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Sang-kyung Kim	...	Kang Min-woo
Yu-won Lee	...	Park Shin-ae
Sung-kee Ahn	...	Park Heung-su
Tae-won Kwon	...	General Choi
Jun-ki Lee	...	Kang Jin-woo
Jae-ho Song	...	Priest
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bong-gi Baek
Jong-hak Baek
Lee Chang-min
Hyo-Seob Eom
Choi Jae-Hwan
In-gi Jeong
Jeong-Ah Jeong
Cheol-gi Kim
Ji-hoon Kim

Storyline

Kang Min Woo leads a relatively peaceful life with his younger brother Kang Jin Woo. Min Woo has been captivated by Park Shin Ae, friend to Jin Woo and daughter to Park Heung Su. Min Woo, being shy, manipulates Shin Ae into going to the movies with him and his brother, Jin Woo, by telling her it's out of sympathy for his brother who studies too hard. The next day at the theaters, while Min Woo was in amusement from watching a film smoke began seeping in. An outburst came through the doors of a soldier beating a man to death and everyone inside ran out of the theatre in fear. That day soldiers went on a rampage against the citizens, assaulting everyone and anyone. Park Heung Su, father to Shin Ae, tried to find out what was happening by seeking out General Choi who was in-charge of this infiltration into his town. But nothing could stop the soldiers not even Heung Su who was once a general himself. The citizens form a militia were determined to protect their loved ones. Out of anger ...

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Release Date:

25 July 2007 (South Korea)

Also Known As:

May 18

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

CJ Entertainment, Keyweckshide Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Filming took place over 12 acres at the High-tech Science Industrial Park in northern Gwangju. Over 600 extras were used for the protest scenes.

User Reviews

"Based on actual events" which are more interesting than the movie

Lovers of history and film are often disappointed when a movie is "based on actual events." Based on a 1980 democratization protest in Gwangju Korea, Hwaryeohan hyuga (May 18) fails to depict anything more than military abuse of power. Prior to seeing the film at the Hawaii International Film Festival, I was unaware of the massacre. I enjoy Korean television dramas and found this almost as entertaining, though in a movie-of-the-week fashion. Characters and actions depicted in the movie seem artificial and the filmmaker seemed afraid to depict any political view other than love for Korea and Gwangju. The many fans of Jun-gi Lee on hand for the screening were probably mollified by his presence. While I feel the film trivializes the sacrifices made by citizens to advance democracy in Korea, it motivated me to learn more about Gwangju.